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What about when companies influence government policy to stake out their monopolies? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_AT%26T#Monopoly https://en.wikipe
by steego 9y ago
What about when companies influence government policy to stake out their monopolies?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_AT%26T#Monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_AT%26T#Monopoly
I'm not a fan of breaking up companies like Google who've gotten where they are by creating a tremendous amount of value. They don't depend on government regulations to enforce favorable rules that they helped write by influencing our legislators.
Think about that critical difference.
Some companies actively undermine free markets by sponsoring the nanny state. In some cases, companies like ADM received 43% of their profits from federal subsidies. Verizon and Comcast use and influence local, state and federal regulations to carve out their duopoly markets. Financial institutions also benefit from favorable regulations that hedge/guarantee risks or subsidize profits in the form of tax breaks.
I don't think we should break up companies either, but we need to first do something about the special interests that are sucking on the teats of our government before we put any moratorium on breaking up companies. Not all monopolies/oligopolies have been earned.
- fiatjaf 9y agoI think we should something about the special interestes that are sucking on the teats of our government, but that something will never be accomplished by breaking up companies. If the people who want to break companies want to do that because they think those companies have been manipulating the government in their interests, these people should think again: isn't breaking up a company a government action? Isn't the act of breaking up a company a government act that could -- and probably will -- be influenced by a company?
- steego 9y agoYou missed the part where I wrote: > I don't think we should break up companies either... Here's my point: I too am hesitant to break up monopolies for most circumstances, but compared to the rampant regulatory capture that's happening all around us every day, it's almost a non-issue. We should focus on the policies that are actively undermining free economy principles before we shoot for lofty standards.